A known apparatus for breaking strips from plates comprises a horizontal conveyor, which advances previously grooved plates in continuous succession, without intervening gaps, on a support, against a stop which is spaced behind the rear end of the support by the width of one strip. As a result, the strip which engages the stop is no longer supported by the support. A breaker hammer which is vertically movable up and down is provided at this point of the apparatus. When the hammer is in its upper or rest position over the plane of the plates being advanced, the conveyor can advance said plates as far as to the stop. As the hammer descends it breaks one strip from the plate. In this operation the forward end of the support acts as a breaker edge. Below the breaker hammer the strip which has been broken off falls on a second support. A rocker lever is provided to feed the broken-off strip from the second support to a packaging machine. Only when the subsequent upward movement of the breaker hammer has been completed can the plate be further advanced against the stop by the width of one strip.
In this known apparatus, the conveyor for advancing the plates to be broken consists of a chain belt conveyor and is continuously driven. Nevertheless, the plates are intermittently advanced. There is a frictional contact between the plates being advanced and the belt chains of the conveyor and said frictional contact must be selected to permit of a slip when the plates are arrested so that the belt chains can move along the plates without damage. Besides, the belt chains must be capable of accelerating the plates sufficiently for their continued advance against the stop. Owing to these circumstances, the output of that known apparatus is limited to about 900 strips broken off per minute. Besides, the belt chains become soiled with plate material as they move along the arrested plates and the plates become correspondingly depleted.
Another known apparatus also comprises a belt chain conveyor which advances an uninterrupted succession of plates that have previously been grooved on both sides. The strips are broken off by two rolls, which mesh like ratchet teeth. In this apparatus the plates are broken while being advanced at constant velocity. When a plate has been broken, flights of a first chain-conveyor extend from below into the gaps between the stips which have been broken off and move these strips further apart to a certain extent. Flights of a second chain conveyor extend subsequently from above into the resulting gaps and further increase the spaces between the strips. These increased spaces are required so that a rocker lever can extend from below between adjacent strips at the end of the conveyor and can deliver individual strips to a packaging machine. This known apparatus has the advantage that the plates are advanced at constant velocity and the strips broken off are only slightly accelerated by the chain conveyors until the strips are engaged by the rocker lever and by the latter are delivered to the packaging machine. On the other hand, this known apparatus has the disadvantage that the chain conveyors which succeed the breaker rolls constitute open chain drives, which must operate under extremely unfavorable conditions. The powdered sugar, corn starch or the like which is required in the production and processing of plates of chewing gum results in a considerable soiling of the chains and require those chains which move closely adjacent to the edible strips to be virtually dry. Because they cannot be greased, there results a high wear of these chains.
In a third known apparatus, the plates are advanced in the manner described last, i.e., continuously, and the individual strips are broken off by being torn off. For this purpose the plate travels between positively interengaging pairs of rolls. These pairs of rolls have different peripheral velocities so that the strips are torn off between the rolls at the lines which have been weakened by the grooves. This known apparatus has the disadvantage that succeeding further pairs of rolls are required to increase the spaces between the strips to such an extent that their advance can be matched to the cycles of the rocker lever which delivers the strips to the packaging machine.